Saturday, August 2, 2014

Here are the photos we were able to capture from our trip to Brussels Belgium. I love the sun and people too but, so many of our photos ops where ruined because of them. I won't complain though because at least I didn't come up empty handed and plus we had a really nice time. Yes, we ate all the things you're supposed eat when you're in Belgium...waffles, fritz, and chocolate. I just want to say it was all just sooooooo gooood lol.

Monday, July 7, 2014

It was the hubster's turn to find something fun for us to do and I was looking forward to seeing what he had come up with. He drove us down to this cute little town called Niederheimbach to explore a castle. Once we arrived at Niederheimbach we, or should I say he, got lost lol. We couldn't find the castle he originally planned for us to see, so we decided to checkout another one called Burg Sooneck. Yep, there a few castles in this one town alone.

Once we decided that this would be the castle of the day, we had to figure out how to get up there. After getting some directions, we found out we had to drive up a super narrow, room for one car at a time, you better hope no one is coming in the opposite direction,oh and don't veer more than one centimeter to the left or you'll fall to your death road lol. After a mini prayer we made it up to the parking lot and walked the rest of the way. The entrance fee was only eight euro a piece, which totally made me happy. We wandered around a bit on our own and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and the great view of the rhine (river). Afterwards we were brought on a guided tour, with a guide who was nice enough to do it in both english and german, of the inside of the castle. It was a very lovely castle and despite some parts of it being under renovation, we still had a nice time. Ive decided that one day, when I'm a billionaire, I'm going to live in small castle. Seriously.

After we left the castle, we went to Frankfurt for dinner. We decided to try out this nice restaurant called Zarges. When I say nice, I mean very nice. Like the kind of nice where your knowledge of which fork is used with what meal is put to the test lol. Everyone was very friendly, professional, and kept our glasses full. The food looked like art on my plate, I almost didn't want to eat because of how pretty it was lol. Trust and believe however, I ate the food and it tasted just as great as it looked. Since the food was a tad bit pricey, we opted to eat elsewhere for dessert. Elsewhere being Haagen Daz!!! Yes, I used three exclamations because I love their ice cream. I used to eat it faithfully on Sundays when I would watch Sex in the City. Anywoodle, the hubster and I both had huge waffle cones with double scoops to go. We held hands, cracked jokes, and enjoyed our dessert during our walk back to the parkhous (parking garage) to get our car.

Once we got there we found out that it was closed for the day, as in there was no way to get our car out. The hubster was kind of panicking and I being the wonderful wife I am, fell out laughing. I told him not to worry and suggested we just get a room until tomorrow. So we walked around for a little bit laughing at our current situation, found a hotel, and checked in. The hotel was pretty on the outside as was the lobby but, the room was extra basic. I was a tad annoyed because the room was a hundred plus euros and so I expected a little more. Then about five minutes later it all hit me at once...I don't have clean underwear! The AC is not working properly! Whose hair is this on the sheets?!?!? Totally not mine because I'm not a blond! The mattress is entirely too soft! Then I looked at my husband and said "babe, the park house is not going to open back up tomorrow because everything is closed on Sunday". At that point, I started itching.

Yes, all at once this came to me lol. I kept my cool and took a shower anyway, called down and had our sheets changed, slept without a blanket, used my husband as a mattress lol, and had him call a friend to pick us up in the morning. After all of that was taken care of, I felt a lot better. I was glad to be stranded in a city with my best friend, as there is nobody else I would rather be stranded with. We spent the rest of the night watching American movies in german and cuddling.The next morning we had an amazing breakfast, I mean really amazing. We would come back to this hotel only for the breakfast, thats how amazing lol. Then we lounged around catching up on the news, plus it was the only channel available in english. Around noon, my husband's friend picked us up and dropped us off at home. I took a real shower and then climbed into my bed and went back to sleep lol. I told my husband he may not ever plan our weekend again lol. Just kidding. All things considered, I think he did a good job. Its one weekend I won't forget.

Here are a few of the pictures I was able to capture, before my card got full SMH.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Summer is among us!!! YAY!!! Below is a list of upcoming festivals, concerts, and a few sports events. I tried to find something for everyone in cities close by and some not so close by...depending on where in Hessen you live. If you know of an event not listed below, please feel free to share it in the comment section. Also, please share this information with anyone that you think may be interested. Please check back regularly as will be adding events as I find them. #ExploreTheWorldAroundYou
** = site is in Deutsch, you will have to paste the URL into Google translate for the english translation.(Frankfurt) For more information on any one of these events, click HERE.06/25/14 - 07/04/14 Opera Square Festival07/18/14 - 07/20/14 Christopher Street Day (CSD)07/26/14 - 07/26/14 Schweizer Straße Festival08/01/14 - 08/04/14 Mainfest (Main Festival)08/08/14 - 08/17/14 Apple Wine Festival08/29/14 - 08/31/14 Museumsuferfest (Museum Embankment Festival)09/03/14 - 09/12/14Rheingau Wine Festival09/12/14 - 09/22/14 Dippemess in Autumn09/20/14 - 09/21/14 Autumn Festival(Wiesbaden) For more information on any one of these events, click HERE.06/28/14 - 07/04/14 German American Friendship Fest07/11/14 - 07/14/14 Shierstein Harbour Festival08/08/14 - 08/17/14 Rheingau Wine Festival09/29/14 - 08/31/14 Folklore 01309/05/14 - 09/07/14 Street Festival Taunusstraße09/25/14 - 09/28/14 City Festival09/27/14 - 09/28/14 Harvest Festival(Mainz) For more information on this event, click HERE.08/28/14 - 08/31/14 Annual Wine Market09/04/14 - 09/07/14 Annual Wine MarketMay-September Mainz Beach is open (Click HERE)07/18/14 - 07/20/14 Bierbörse (Click HERE) **Summer in the City Mainz (Concert dates below. To purchase tickets click HERE)

Monday, June 30, 2014

This past weekend we went to Frankfurt to attend their annual Parade of Cultures or as its called in German, Parade Der Kulturen. The parade, which is free to the public, is a colorful celebration through song and dance of the city's diverse population. One of the opening speaker's made it clear that Frankfurt prides itself on being a beautifully blended city. A city where people are free to live in peace and harmony, as racism and oppression are not tolerated here. It was truly amazing to see the various cultures in the parade, dressed in their perspective cultural attire and performing their traditional song and dance.

Once the parade concluded, everyone went down by the river to sample cuisines from all over the world. Many of which were prepared by the groups performing in the parade. The hubster and I went to the Filipino tent first (#LumpiaLife lol). For whatever reason though, they were not in the parade. I was pretty bummed about that because, I was looking forward to seeing my people represent.

As we continued to walk around I saw something that melted my heart, though I'm not sure why. We were walking around when we saw a few Asians lined up at the Ethiopian tent ordering food, laughing, and conversing all together. I'm guessing it had an affect on me because it's not something you see often, or at least I haven't, and it was just cool to see. Additionally, I saw a bench seated with a beautiful mix of people all laughing over plates of food, just enjoying each other's company. I wish I would have been able to capture that. Anywhoodle, below are some of the pictures that I was able to capture. Shout out to all the random photographers in my photos because I know I'm in a lot of yours as well LOL.

P.S. So much of the attire, hair, and make-up that I saw inspired me. Stuff that hopefully I will get to share in a later post. I really encourage those of you who don't get out much to really take the time to do so. ((No matter where you live)) You will be amazed by what inspires you, moves you, the fun you'll have, the people you'll meet, the memories you'll create.

**Extremely picture heavy**

I'm not sure of her name, I'm thinking its Doris because of a sticker I saw on her purse, anyways she was the sweetest lady ever. She came up to me and started a random conversation and it really made my day.